


His Words

by supergirrl



Series: Words [5]
Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), Mad Max: Fury Road
Genre: F/M, Nux Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 02:47:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6734827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supergirrl/pseuds/supergirrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It felt strange to admit it but there was a dark beauty to Nux, painted in the blood of an enemy-her enemy.  But before she let herself touch him, she had to know.  Had he done this to protect her, or to satisfy some latent War Boy thirst for violence?<br/>“Nux?”<br/>He was still staring at her in utter adoration. “Hm?”<br/>“Why did you kill him?”<br/>“I wanted you to feel safe again, and I knew you wouldn’t until he was dead.  But now he’ll never hurt anyone again.  Not you or your sisters or the sprog.  No one.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Words

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! So this is set in the same universe as my series Words, so if you haven't read that I would recommend reading the other two fics in the series first! Warning for mentions of previous sexual assault and some canon-typical violence.

For once, the Citadel was quiet. With Furiosa meeting with the new leadership of Gas Town-accompanied by a full crew-, there were far fewer people than usual, and the sweltering heat of the afternoon had those who remained resting in any cool, quiet place they could find. 

Capable and her sisters were no exception. She sensed Dag’s presence in the greenhouses, likely napping there with Cheedo and An. And Toast was dozing with her head in Capable’s lap-well, what had formerly been her lap, before she had gotten pregnant. Now Toast’s head was resting on the swell of her belly, and Capable was gently stroking her sister’s hair. They had originally planned to meet in Toast’s study and go over some ideas for improving water distribution, but Capable had taken one look at the bags under her sister’s eyes and suggested they work in their room instead. Toast had insisted she wasn’t tired but almost immediately fell asleep.  

Absently, Capable traced her finger tattoo. It was an ancient way of writing the number two, and Joe in his hubris had assumed that it indicated her status as second favorite wife, after Angharad. But in truth it represented her sisters; Cheedo and Dag side by side, with Toast and Angharad shielding them, holding them up. 

Ever since the Road, Toast had stepped into Angharad’s role as the leader and voice of the sisters, as well as being a key instigator in the Citadel’s reform, and Capable worried about the strain it placed on her. She was still the caregiver of their group, making sure Toast slept enough and reminding Dag to eat, ensuring that Cheedo wore a jacket to protect against the night chill of the desert air, yet she wondered if she was doing enough to minimize Toast’s burdens.

Capable was shaken from her musings by a series of rapid sharp kicks as the sprog inside her began to move, and she winced.

Toast apparently felt them too, because she sat up and gave Capable a sleepy smile. “You could’ve asked me to wake up instead of letting the kid do your dirty work.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was going to do that!”

Yawning and arching her back in a stretch, Toast replied, “’s alright, I was asleep for too long anyway.”

Then she patted Capable’s belly fondly. “You were just looking out for your Aunt Toast, weren’t you, little one? Just another hundred days or so until we can meet you!”

Capable sighed. “I can’t wait. But I’m sorry that you and Dag’ll have to feel it along with me; An’s birth wasn’t pleasant for you.”

Toast shrugged. “It might not be bad practice for me, this time.”

“Toast! Are you-” Ever since Toast and Nux’s old lancer Slit had become…well, whatever it was they were, Capable had been mixing up the concoction that kept sprogs away for her sister. But would Toast have stopped drinking it without even telling her?

“No, no, I’m not pregnant,” Toast cut her off hurriedly. “But I’ve thought about it. Part of me does want a sprog of my own, but I don’t know if I can even get pregnant again.  And I’m afraid if I did, it would kill me, like the first one nearly did.”

Toast’s first pregnancy was before Capable came to the Vault, but she knew how much she had feared catching another sprog. Capable meant to reassure her that things would be different; she had been a half-starved child when Joe had impregnated her, and now she was a healthy woman. It was true that she hadn’t gotten pregnant again by Joe, though Capable never conceived in the Vault, and now she had a baby on the way. 

Yet the words Capable spoke were not the ones she had been thinking, but came from that deep place inside herself where the goddess dwelt. “If you wish for a child, I will open your womb and make you fertile. My hand will be upon you, and no harm will come to you or your sprog.”

Toast chuckled. “Wow. That was certainly reassuring.”

“D’you think we’ll ever get used to that? Speaking with Her words?” Capable shook her head in disbelief. Her magic wasn’t quite as visible as Toast or Dag’s, though no less strange. Dead things shimmered to life under Dag’s bone-white hands, and Toast knew everything-not just all the words in every book, but where to find long-buried wells in the desert and how to fix all the broken bits of machinery in the bowels of the Citadel.  Nearly all of Capable’s patients, no matter how bad their condition, recovered after she cared for them, and she was plagued with none of the sickness or pains that most pregnant people experienced. Although they all occasionally spoke for the goddess, Capable was still becoming accustomed it. 

Another shrug from Toast. “Dunno. It definitely comes in handy, though. Speaking of, Furiosa and her crew will be back soon, we should be there to greet them.”

Capable didn’t question Toast; when her sister said something, it was without a doubt true. 

As they headed down to the lift, Toast asked, “Doesn’t it make you worried, when Nux goes out on runs?”

Capable shook her head. “If something happened to him, I would know. I feel him…not as strongly as it is with you and Dag, but I know he’s alright.” She felt her sisters constantly, knowing their moods and feelings as well as her own, but with Nux, it was softer, more of a general awareness of his well-being. She hadn’t told any of her sisters this, but she suspected that Nux was still protected by the magic that had allowed him to survive the crash of the War Rig. He was the goddess’s consort just as much as he was her lover, which surely provided a shield against earthly harm.

After her and Dag’s encounters with the goddess, Toast had read to them from a book about Old World deities, hoping to help them better understand what had happened to them. Sometimes the goddess Herself was a warrior; other times, Her consort was a war-god, fighting on Her behalf. Capable liked to think of Nux in this way, as a fierce War Boy who had also learned to be gentle.

One of Toast’s lieutenants came up to her, saying they needed her in the garages, so Capable found herself waiting alone for the returning War Party.

After the People Eater’s death on the Fury Road, some of his followers who had stayed behind to hold Gas Town had taken over and refused to trade with the Citadel. But they had been overthrown by the thirsty masses, who now wanted to swap the surviving members of the People Eater’s regime for water and produce. 

Amidst the throng of jubilant War Boys, Capable caught a glimpse of the prisoner they were bringing in, and her blood ran cold. She wanted to turn away and run, but she felt frozen in place by her fear. 

Numbly she registered that he looked much the same-hateful face set atop a thick neck and an awkward, muscle-bound body-and told herself, _He can’t hurt you.  Joe is dead, the People Eater is dead, and his power is gone._

Capable took a step back, hoping that she would get away before he noticed her.

And then he saw her. His cruel blue-green eyes looked her up and down, and he leered at her belly. She crossed her arms across herself protectively, hating the feeling of his gaze upon her. 

The War Boys holding his chains jerked him along the hallway, but not before he managed to snarl something at her. Just a single word. One would think that after all she had survived, words would no longer have the power to affect her, yet what he said cut her deep.

The crowd dwindled around her, and soon it was just Capable, standing there, unable to move.

When Toast found her, it wasn’t until she said her name that she even realized he was there. She didn’t have to explain; Toast slid an arm around her waist and led her back to their rooms. Dag and Cheedo were waiting there for them, and together they curled up in bed. Capable held An close to her chest and tried to lose herself in the feeling of her sisters around her, wanting desperately to feel safe again. His presence had stolen that sense of security from her, and it made her angry and scared beyond words.

She wasn’t sure how much time passed before her sisters left and were replaced by Nux.  Capable supposed they must have asked her if it was alright for them to go, and she must have said yes. 

Nux didn’t say anything, just held her in the way she liked, close enough to feel secure but not so much that she felt trapped.  

When she finally was able to speak, her voice was flat. “I came from Gas Town; the People Eater found out that I was whole-life and took me from my family when I was small to raise me in his compound. I barely remember them, but they must be dead by now. They were all half-life except for me. Joe wanted him and the Bullet Farmer to find girls like us, then bring them to the Citadel when we were old enough. Dag came from the Bullet Farm, and they found Cheedo here.”

She pressed her face against Nux’s shoulder, forcing herself to breathe. Nux stroked her back gently, reassuringly, not rushing her. His presence soothed the fear and rage currently flooding her. 

“As long as we still looked beautiful and weren’t pregnant when we came to the Citadel, Joe didn’t care what they did to us before. And Nitros was one of the People Eater’s lieutenants, one of his favorites, and got special favors. He liked…liked to hurt me, in ways that wouldn’t plant a sprog.”

There. The awful words had been spoken, and instead of making her feel better, somehow talking about it made it more real. Her sisters knew, of course, but it wasn’t something they had ever discussed. Angharad and Toast figured it out on their own, her first night in the Vault after Joe finished with her and left, and they had come into the room to check on her. Angharad later told her that they expected to find her weeping or beaten bloody from fighting against him, but instead, she had been laying perfectly still on the bed. She didn’t remember much from her life before the Vault, just what Nitros had done and how she used to go away inside herself, to detach from her body. That was how she had survived her time in Gas Town, and when Joe had touched her it had been easy to slip away.

Toast and Angharad had dressed her with gentle hands, comforted her, and brought her back to herself. Under their loving touch, she had come back together, learned what it was like to feel safe and loved. And now Nitros had reappeared in her life, taking away that sense of security.

It took Nux a moment to comprehend what she meant, and when he did, she felt him stiffen against her. She realized that she was digging her fingers into his bare shoulders, so hard it would almost certainly leave marks, and relaxed her grip on him.

He started to pull back, murmuring, “Capable-Capable, I’m sorry, so sorry, should I stay or get your sisters or-”

 “No, stay, I just want you to hold me. Please.”

He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and she nestled close to him again.

“I thought I had forgotten, that that part of my life was gone forever. But then I saw him today, when they were bringing him in after the raid, and he called me _breeder_. He looked at me and my baby, our baby, and said that filthy word. It could be a girl, Nux, and if it is, she’s coming into a world with people like him. And no matter how strong I am or how powerful my magic is, I can’t get rid of scum like him in the world.”

That was what hurt the most, the helplessness she felt. In that moment when he had stared at her and called her the word she hated most, nothing-not the gift from her goddess coursing through her veins, the power she held in the Citadel, or even the gun she always carried-had kept her from feeling like the vulnerable child he had preyed upon all those years ago.

“I just want to…I want him to suffer.  I want him to die knowing he never broke me.”

Nux hummed thoughtfully. “Why can’t you? His trial is tomorrow and they’re probably gonna execute him. I could sneak you in tonight, wouldn’t be hard.”

She sighed, envying Nux’s simple worldview. Everything was black and white to him.  Someone had hurt her, and he was going to be punished anyway, so why not hurt him back?

“My sisters and I are trying to show everyone that hurting people because you want to is wrong, and if I killed him for revenge, that would make me a hypocrite. If he dies-and I hope he does-it has to be legal, not because I wanted him dead. Does that make sense?”

“It does.” She smiled against his chest, proud of how much he had grown and changed from the frightened War Boy she had found in the back of the Rig, and kissed him. 

 

The next day, Capable awoke alone. Her duties in the infirmaries didn’t begin until after the noon meal, so she decided to go looking for Nux in the garages. She had just reached his car when she heard him calling her name. She turned toward the source of his voice, then gasped.

He was making his way through the garages to her, an eager smile on his face, yet he was absolutely _covered_ in blood. His torso and legs were splattered with it, and the arm she could see looked as if he was wearing an elbow-length red glove. 

Capable rushed to him, her heart in her stomach. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

How could he have possibly gotten injured this badly? She ran her hands across his abdomen, feeling gently for wounds.

Resting a hand on her hip, Nux touched his forehead to hers, smiling at her in a way that was somehow both tender and feral. “’s not my blood.”

She stepped back, confused. “What-who?”

From behind his back, he produced a burlap sack and overturned its contents at her feet. 

It only took her an instant to realize what Nux had presented her with.

A pair of severed hands. And a bloody head.

Nitros’s head.

Nux was clearly proud of himself, thrusting his chest out and grinning widely at the gruesome gift he had deposited at her feet. “Talked to Toast and asked her if I could do this for you, if they said he was guilty.  She told the others, the jury, what he did to you, and they voted that I could! So it was all legal and fair, like you wanted. No unnecessary killing, I know. And I told him it was for you, and that he never broke you.”

In that moment, Capable was feeling many things: relief that Nux wasn’t hurt and happiness that Nitros was dead being most prominent. A little disgust for the severed head and hands, but less than she would have expected. As well as…lust?

It felt strange to admit it but there was a dark beauty to Nux, painted in the blood of an enemy- _her_ enemy. But before she let herself touch him, she had to know. Had he done this to protect her, or to satisfy some latent War Boy thirst for violence?

“Nux?”

He was still staring at her in utter adoration. “Hm?”

“Why did you kill him?” Capable was proud of herself for keeping her voice steady in spite of her arousal.

“I wanted you to feel safe again, and I knew you wouldn’t until he was dead. But now he’ll never hurt anyone again. Not you or your sisters or the sprog. No one.” His voice trembled with the sincerity of his conviction, and Capable felt how badly she wanted him, here and now.

So she had him there on the hood of his car, gentle and fierce and loving. She pulled him in, her magic burning strong and bright, and they were one.

Capable had been worshipped before. People in the Citadel whispered that she and her sisters were gods on earth, presented them with shiny bits of metals and other tokens as offerings. Nux had told her that some of the other War Boys prayed to them before going on runs, asking Toast for wisdom, Dag for the chance of life after death, and Capable for healing. On the night they made their baby, Nux had venerated her with his hands and mouth.   

This bloody, loving act was no less a form of worship.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave me a review letting me know what you did/didn't like. Thanks for reading!


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